About Debra
Debra Thurman is a Montana licensed clinical social worker with 25 years of experience. She prefers working with adults and focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, anger, depression, and self-esteem concerns. She meets each person with respect, sensitivity, and compassion.
Sessions are shaped around what the individual needs, with a plan that is adjusted as progress is made. Debra emphasizes practical steps people can try between meetings to build confidence and reduce overwhelm.
How Debra works
Her background includes supporting people through trauma and abuse, grieving and end-of-life concerns, sleep problems, and bipolar mood challenges. She also helps with parenting strain, career doubts, and life transitions that leave people feeling stuck or uncertain. Debra uses straightforward therapeutic approaches such as cognitive behavioral techniques, emotion-focused work, dialectical skills, and acceptance-based methods to address thoughts, feelings, and daily habits.
Conversations are collaborative and based on what the client wants to change in their life. She also brings experience addressing aging and geriatric issues, autism and Asperger syndrome, caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, codependency, and family of origin issues. Those topics are woven into the session pace and goals when relevant.
Debra aims to support and empower people as they take steps toward a more manageable, satisfying life. She helps clients set realistic goals and practices that fit their everyday routines.
Debra lists 11 ways of working on the entry:
What Debra works with
The areas below are the ones Debra selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Anger management
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LCSW |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 25 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Montana |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How these approaches work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on clarifying values and taking small actions that matter to the client. It helps when avoidance of difficult feelings has gotten in the way of living the life someone wants. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and teaches practical skills to change patterns that cause distress. It is useful for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and mood regulation. Emotionally-Focused Therapy helps identify and shift patterns in close relationships and strong emotions, supporting people who feel stuck in painful emotional cycles.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences, and what has or has not worked in the past. Together they will choose or blend methods so the plan fits the client's needs and daily life.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls let people read body language and talk in real time, while phone sessions can work better when bandwidth is limited or a check-in is shorter. Live chat and text messaging allow flexible check-ins and brief support between longer sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, or travel schedules while keeping consistent progress.
Start online instead of waiting
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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